Glossary term
Faraday Bag
A Faraday bag is a shielded enclosure that blocks cellular, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS, and other radio signals to a contained device, preventing remote access, remote wipe, and post-acquisition contamination.
Faraday isolation is standard practice for any mobile device entering forensic custody. Without it, the device remains reachable by its associated accounts, which means a remote wipe can be triggered, location queries can ping the device, and incoming messages can overwrite earlier content.
Our intake process places every mobile device in a Faraday bag immediately on receipt. The device is then transported to the lab and placed in a Faraday-shielded acquisition area for examination.
For AFU (After First Unlock) state preservation, we maintain power to the device inside the Faraday environment. If the device powers off, it returns to BFU state and most user data becomes encrypted.
Forensic-grade Faraday bags are tested for signal attenuation across multiple frequency bands. Consumer-grade pouches sold for general privacy use are not always sufficient.